OR: WC Premium Rate Will Decrease Again In 2011

Salem, OR (CompNewsNetwork) - The workers’ compensation “pure” premium rate will decrease 1.8 percent in 2011, the Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS) announced today. This rate has not increased since 1990 and has decreased nearly 13 percent since 2006. Oregon employers have saved an unprecedented $18.2 billion since 1990 as a result of rate decreases, and pure premium costs today are down $146 million from 2006 levels.

To maintain critical programs that have driven this success, the department is also proposing a 1.8 percentage point increase in the workers’ compensation premium assessment. The assessment funds administration of the workers’ compensation and workplace safety system, and the increase will partially offset the impact of the economic downturn on DCBS revenue. As a result, average workers’ compensation costs for employers in 2011 will be flat. The third component of workers’ compensation costs, the Workers’ Benefit Fund assessment, will not change … read more